-- clean up your mess
by dean-im-losing-it
Summary: When trouble comes, big trouble, Dean & Cas have no choice but to trust a woman that seems to have conveniently shown up on their doorstep. Sam is nowhere to be found, Dean is losing it, and Castiel needs a partner in crime.
1. Chapter 1

"This is definitely.. not,"

A terrified gasp.

"Not working, Cas."

The slender figure of a young woman, not older than 25, half-rolled, half-slithered across the floor, barely missing the last blow of a fist that was aimed at her. She was winded, every last bit of air driven out of her, and for a second that seemed to stretch out for eternity she lay flat on the ground, motionless. In the brief time it took her to recover enough of her energy to look up, she could see the angel trying to take on all of their three opponents, and clearly failing miserably. She knew he was trying to buy them time, but that was not the way to do it.

It only took another three precious seconds to slide her gaze across the room, taking in their surroundings for the first time since they had entered and had immediately been jumped. The walls were bare, apart from the obvious warding drawn in bright red paint, with no clear sign of an easy escape. Their only hope now was turning back. She gritted her teeth together, cursing under her breath. If it weren't for those wardings, they would be out of here already, if not continuing their way through the abandoned factory as they had planned to. Castiel would have smited these demons in a heartbeat, and she wouldn't be lying on the floor, fighting to stay conscious.

"Run!"

The angel's sharp command finally snapped her out of her thoughts, bringing her back to the harsh reality of the situation they had dragged themselves into.

"I'll hold them off, I'll hold them all off. Just get out of here, I'll be right behind you!" He had two of the demons pinned to the ground and held firmly under his grip, but the third one was already recovering from one of Castiel's blows and was advancing on him just as his last desperate words reached the woman's ears. She forced herself to sit up, her muscles screaming a protest as she tried to put her weight on them. She was unable to comprehend how she managed to struggle to her feet and race with what energy she had left towards the door, which opened easily after she had fired at the lock only several minutes ago.

She skidded to a halt at the end of the hallway, briefly glancing over her shoulder at the half-opened entrance to the room where the fighting was still going on, more vicious than ever. For a moment she wondered if she should summon what little was left of her strength and ignore Castiel's order for her to abandon him and run. Then, as if she could hear his voice ringing clear in her ears for a second time, she spun around and continued running without stopping even to catch her breath, until she was out of the building and reaching for the door of the Impala.

* * *

"I'm sorry, come again. Like I'm five. What do you mean 'I ran'?"

"I just turned around and ran, got in the Impala, drove here."

"Just left him to sweep up your mess and drove here?"

"That's what he wanted, Dean. What he _asked_ me to do."

"That's not good enough!"

A pile of books crashed to the floor, and she flinched away. Not from the noise, but from the burning green eyes that met hers when Dean looked up at her once again.

"What was I supposed to do?" she tried again, as if explaining herself would ever good enough for Dean. "Stay and let us both get killed? How is that better?"

"I don't know, maybe you should have considered at least _attempting_ to keep the one person who had a shot at getting us out of this in our team? Or was that too hard for you to think of?"

Dean's voice was sharp, accusing, but this time she met his gaze while managing to stand her ground. "I did what I had to do, and I'm not going to explain myself to you, Dean. I don't have the luxury. Now you can either stay here and whine about the tragedy of your long-lost boyfriend, or you can join me at Bobby's and we can try to work out a plan to fix this."

With a swift motion she grabbed her bag and made two confident strides toward the door, before Dean's body slid in front of her to block her way. "You do that," he said, glaring at her disapprovingly. "I'll drive back to the factory, make sure Cas is still alive until that little plan of yours is ready to go down." He finished with one final glare through narrowed eyes, then swung around, grabbed his coat and marched off the room, pulling the door shut behind him.

She stood gazing at the spot where he had been standing just a few moments ago, her mind quickly skimming through all of the worst-case scenarios that could play out if she didn't stop Dean from this reckless move he was about to make. But she knew she would have no luck trying to convince him otherwise. When Dean said he would do something, he usually did it, and the last person capable of knocking sense through his thick skull would be her.

Exhaling slowly, she picked up her bag again, which she unconsciously had let fall to her feet while the hunter's harsh words had caused her whole body to quiver with guilt, and set off again, out the door, and down the road towards Bobby's place.


	2. Chapter 2

To think that Dean would give her a break after he had been made well aware of the risks she had put herself and Castiel through. But no, he had to take the Impala and storm off, taking notice of nobody else's requests or thoughts, and leaving her to walk back to Bobby's place. Her whole body ached with fear and exhaustion, and all she really felt like doing was rushing back to the motel room she had just checked out of and sleeping her problems away. But she couldn't do that. Dean would skin her alive, if he even survived the foolish move he was about to execute, of course.

She was certain all there was left to do was discuss this with Bobby, who would have the sense not to accuse her for mistakes she had already made, and maybe help her work out a trickier plan to get through the abandoned factory and take what was theirs, including Cas. But soon she found her legs were taking her elsewhere, down several streets and right into a deserted-looking alley. Nadine's old house. A sharp sigh escaped her lips, but she didn't pause. Instead, she walked on at a brisker pace, eager to meet up with her old hunting mate. She had promised herself she was done with Nadine. Not only was she a bad influence, but she was almost as reckless as Dean, always ready and first in line to sacrifice herself. A quality to be avoided, despised even. Looking out for yourself was always what came first. That's what survival was all about.

"Nadine!" she hissed when banging on the door seemed not to have been enough. "Open up, you ungrateful little slut! I might've said so, but I'm not done with you. Not just yet."

The door creaked open, just enough for a blonde face to poke through. "God's sake," it said, a voice unwelcoming or even threatening, depending on who it was aimed at. "Come in, I guess. And seriously, stealing one of your boyfriends out of the hundreds waiting in line hardly gives you the right to call me that."

Stepping aside, Nadine pulled the door open, and pushed it shut again just as her former friend's silhouette was clear of it and walking straight past the hallway and into the living room. She settled herself on the centuries-old couch, crossing her legs and shooting a pointedly questioning look around. "You haven't renovated," she commented. "That is so not a shocker."

"The hell do you want?" Nadine followed her into the dimly-lit room, avoiding her piercing gaze by looking down at the dusty, wooden floor, but maintaining an aggressive posture all the same. "Thought our last hunting trip was the last straw for you and that little hunting party of yours. What was it? I'm not 'fit to be in the team'? A 'cowardly, impulsive idiot', right?"

"I left my team."

For the first time, Nadine was unable to resist her burning curiosity and found herself looking up, wonder clear in her eyes. "You did what?"

"I left. Crossed paths with Dean Winchester and his angel."

"Castiel?" the blonde woman looked shocked for less than a split second, before suspicion creeped into her features. "They'd never be stupid enough to be deceived by _you_."

"Mock me all you want, but your attempts to insult me are in vain, my friend," frosty blue eyes glimmered with contempt, forcing Nadine to shrink away again. "I'm not deceiving them. You could say we're simply.. helping each other out a little bit."

"Whatever," Nadine gave up, getting off the couch to pace about for several moments before making way for the kitchen. "I've given up trying to figure out your motives. Why are you here?"

"I need your help."

Nadine's muscles froze, forcing her to stay in place. Her mouth opened to spit out a harsh reply. Obviously, her _help_ would be the last thing that heartless bitch would ask for. Her head on a silver plate was much more probable. "Why?" was all she managed to croak out, thankful for her decision to turn her back to the living room and that _snake's_ intimidating stare. The last thing she needed was for her to see how shaken she was by her less-than-surprising statement. "What do you want _my_ help for?"

"No time to explain," suddenly her former mate's voice sounded rushed, and Nadine turned around to find her shuffling through the bags lying untidily around the living room. "We need to go. Now," she finally found a duffel bag under some dirty bet sheets, lifted it easily despite the weapons it contained, and looked up expectantly at Nadine who was still standing frozen several feet away from the fridge. "You're coming with me, and I'm not taking no as answer."

* * *

"The hell do you mean she never showed?"

"I've been here all afternoon, your little blue-eyed lass never showed."

Dean grunted something that might have qualified as "okay", then flipped the phone shut and quickly climbed out of the Impala. Night had fallen, and surely by now their little _helper_ was supposed to have arrived at Bobby's to work out their mastermind plan, just like she had promised. He might have been a little unsure before, but now that uncertainly had already evolved into full-blown suspicion.

_Screw it_, he thought, setting off towards what looked like the factory's back door. There was nothing that qualified as a main entrance anyway, so they might as well all be back doors. _Let her play her little game. I'm coming for her next,_ he clenched his jaw, then forced the problem to the back of his mind. If he was going to rescue a powerless angel all by himself, the first step would probably be concentrating on the task. Getting himself captured and proving _that one_ untrustworthy bitch right was the last thing he needed.

A faint screeching noise being the door's response at Dean's attempt to push it open betrayed the fact that it was locked, which came as no surprise. Not wasting a single second, he slid a pick and a wrench out of his pocket and positioned them inside the lock. He couldn't remember the last time he had been required to do this, having gotten used to Castiel teleporting them around whenever they needed to get somewhere unnoticed. It took him longer than he liked to get it right, but finally a satisfying _click_ announced the door was open. Dean slipped inside, silently pushing it shut again. The less evidence he left behind, the better.

He began to make his way stealthily down the hall, one of his hands occupied by holding a flashlight while he clutched at the knife with the other. If two hunters, one of them being an angel, had been unable to get through the demons in this lot, he was sensible enough to understand it would be even tougher when he was there all by himself. Therefore keeping to the shadows and staying hidden was his best bet for the time being. With just a bit of luck, all the fighting he would need to do would be once he reached Cas.

Barely audible footsteps approaching from somewhere behind him caused him to stop dead in his tracks. He swiftly side-stepped to hide behind a wall just as the footsteps became significantly louder. One person. Male, from the heavy noise. _Demon,_ he decided. He waited in his hiding place for only few more seconds, barely allowing himself to breathe. Then he revealed himself just in time to collide with the demon, shoving the knife in his chest with a rapid move while pinning the demon against the nearest wall and pressing his mouth shut with his free hand. A bright, golden glow illuminated the creature's body before fading away as the man slid to the floor and lay there, motionless. _Not bad,_ Dean praised himself, picked up the flashlight from where he had left it behind the wall he had used as a hiding place, and moved on as quickly as dared to. He had been careful to make the kill as soundless as possible, so going in unnoticed was still the plan he would stick to.

_Hang in there, Cas,_ he thought to himself, briefly wondering if the angel would be able to hear him from where he was held as leverage. _You're not getting rid of us just yet, buddy._


End file.
